Miracle (Widescreen Edition)

Customer Reviews:

• Poor Product: I would like to be able to review this product but the DVD did not work in my DVD player. Neither the full length movie DVD or the DVD with the extra interviews. I would return it but the cost is not worth the effort. I had ordered this because I had the same problem with one I bought in the store and thought it was defective. This one did the same thing. All the other DVDs I have work in my DVD player. There is a tech assistance number but that was no help. I really liked the movie when I saw it on TV and that is why I wanted the DVD and to be able to see the interviews.
• Capturing the Spirit of Lake Placid: The challenges were formidable: A Soviet hockey team that won by intimidation. After all, they hadn't been beaten in 15 years. But it could be done. Coach Brooks kept telling his 19 year-old players to play their game and to take the fight to the Russians. They had to WANT it. In some games, the players had given less than 100%, and coach Brooks would not stand for it.
  
  But first things first. The team had to become a cohesive unit. And, even if it were never to become the best team in the world, it had to become the best conditioned team in the world. This took time. Finally, even if they were not better than the Russians overall, they HAD to be the better team that particular night.
  
  The politics at the time was clear. President Carter had just given his malaise speech. The US was humiliated by Ayatollah Khomeini. A sign posted at the US-Soviet hockey game at Lake Placid said: "Get the puck out of Afghanistan!"
  
  And so the stage was set for the miracle. The Soviet coach was staring with unbelief--like a fish out of water. A spell of delirium captured the US. Who could forget?
  
• Brilliant recalling of a moment in history: I grew up in Texas in the 60s. It's an understatement to say that hockey was a sport I had little knowledge of, and even less interest in.
  
  That changed very dramatically in 1980. For those of you too young to remember the cold war, it's probably hard to understand the national significance attached to sporting and cultural events that pitted the US vs. the Soviet Union: Van Cliburn winning the Tchaikovsky piano competition in Moscow in 1958; Bobby Fischer defeating Boris Spassky for the world chess championship in 1972; the Soviet basketball team (in an extremely controversial game) ending the US's unbeaten streak in the Olympics that same year; and the Miracle on Ice depicted in this movie. In each case, millions of Americans who had little interest in classical music or chess or basketball or hockey suddenly found themselves very interested indeed. Whether or not these events should have been viewed as Cold War battles, it's simply the case that they were.
  
  Having said that, how well does "Miracle" recall the events? I think it does so brilliantly, from the casting to the cinematography to the direction -- all of it. It's not hard to believe you're back in 1980.
  
  Final note: next to hearing the famed Al Michaels line "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!", my favorite scene was a few seconds earlier. As the clock wound down with the US team protecting its lead, we see the coach's wife in the stands, head bowed and gloved hands rubbing together nervously, unable to watch. One of many, many great vignettes in this great movie.
• Miracle 2004: I have the DVD with 2 disks and enjoy it very much. My cousin is one of the major stars in this and was never an actor, but a hockey player! He did a great job and so did all the other kids. I remember watching the USA gold winning hocky game played in the Lake Placid Olympics on TV when I was 13 (my family being from upstate NY) and remember the sheer exhilaration and awe we all felt at beating the odds. Having said that, I don't think the extras gave it the same feeling. But I guess you can't paid Canadians enough to cheer for the US in hockey. I think it means more to them. Still, loved the movie and I want to say 'Hi' to all the 'Miracle Cuties' who were part of it.
• Simply incredible!: In the 1980 Olympic Games the US Hockey team overcame enormous disadvantages to successfully defeat the Soviet Hockey team and earn the gold medal, breaking a nearly twenty-year winning streak for the Soviets in what was aptly described as a miracle on the ice. 'Miracle,' starring Kurt Russell (Vanilla Sky, Escape From L.A.) as Olympic coach Herb Brooks, aims to retell this story as realistically as possible to show the audience what it was like to be a member of that remarkable team and be a part of such an astonishing accomplishment. The audience gets to see the process of forming such a team from the selection of the coach, to the selection of the players, to the grueling schedule of practice, through several defeats, to eventual success.
  
  'Miracle' is a completely successful, realistic depiction of a remarkable event in American sports history. Herb Brooks and a variety of the members of the real 1980 US hockey team signed on as advisors with Brooks suffering an untimely death during the production. The contribution of these people enables the goals, action, story, and acting, to be dead-on accurate in its presentation of the events as they took place during the 1980 games. Kurt Russell shines brightly in his role as the coach of this team; from the Minnesota accent, to the coaching style, Russell's performance is as life-like as acting gets. All the hockey players are remarkable in their performances, but special attention should be paid to Billy Schneider, the son of Buzz Schneider, who portrays his father in this film, Patrick O'Brien Demsey who perfectly plays the role Mike Eruzione, and Mike Mantenuto, the former UMaine player, who portrays Jack O'Callahan.
  
  While there are movies which are much more complex, much deeper, and much more artistically valuable, 'Miracle,' aims to be a simple, but accurate, depiction of this remarkable event in the history of the Cold War. Director Gavin O'Connor succeeds admirably in meeting and surpassing these modest goals. 'Miracle' is strongly recommended to all audiences and a hearty thank you is due to Disney for allowing such an exceptional film to be made.